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Simple Holiday Hacks

Holidays Hacks from Appliance City

According to my calendar today is Evergreen Tree Trimming day, the day when most people put up their Christmas trees. Appliance City is in full Christmas swing with it’s 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways promotion going strong.

To celebrate Christmas a bit early I’ve decided to put together my favourite holiday hacks in an easy to find guide if not for this year, than definitely for next! Everything from simple homemade Christmas ornaments to decorating hacks for small spaces. There’s something for everyone in my guide to hacking the holidays!

Holiday Hack #1

How to Easily Hang Lights on Brick (without drilling holes)

Hack 1 - Appliance City - Fairy Lights on Brick

Do you love the look of fairy lights against brick at night but don’t want to have to drill holes all over house in order to hang them? There’s a simple and seriously inexpensive way to decorate your house for the festive period without making any long term or permanent changes to your home. The answer to your fairy light dilemma can be found at your local craft store in the shape of a hot glue gun. That’s right. Hot glue will allow you to stick fairy lights wherever you want with superior (temporary) hold. Just simply pull them down after Christmas and remove any remaining hot glue. Simple.

Image Credit: Jamie Sarner

Holiday Hack #2

Homemade Gingerbread Ornaments

Holiday Hacks - Appliance City - Homemade Gingerbread Ornaments

Christmas ornaments can sometimes be extortionately expensive. When your kids are toddlers or you have puppies or kittens this may not be the time to purchase those beautiful ornaments. What you can do is make some ornaments, completely beautiful, that will last a few years until it’s safe to spend some dough on your holiday decor.

Making these gingerbread cookies is so easy that you can make them alongside your Christmas cookies, though with the amount of cinnamon that’s in these I wouldn’t suggest eating them (unless you love cinnamon of course). I found this recipe from McCormick to be the easiest to make but also saw a few pointers that putting a few coats of resin on them makes them last even longer. The difference, with the lacquer you won’t have that beautiful cinnamon scent long after Christmas.

Holiday Hack #3

Keep Fairy Lights from Getting Tangled

Holiday Hacks - Appliance City - Untangle Fairy Lights

Fairy lights are light headphones, it seems no matter how careful you are to put them away you always pull them out in a massive ball of tangles. There are a few ways that you can avoid your fairy lights getting tangled when you take them down this year.

Method 1: Requires a clothes hanger.Tuck one of the ends of the strand under the bit at the top of a hanger where a hanging string for clothes would go. Proceed to wrap your fairy lights string around the hanger and back again, tucking the other end of the strand under the same hook as you did at the beginning.

Method 2: Requires a heavy duty piece of cardboard 8inches  x 6inches. Cut two small slits in the cardboard one on each side for slotting the ends of the strand into. Tuck the first end in then wrap your strand around the cardboard back and forth until you are finished and can tuck the other end of the strand into your other slit. Keeping your lights tangle free for another 12 months.

Holiday Hack #4

Elf on a Shelf Perfection

Holiday hacks - Appliance City - Bendable Elf on a Shelf

I can remember my parents having an elf on a shelf when I was a kid. It was never up to mischief, but just hanging on a branch on our tree. The days of elf on a shelf have drastically changed and in December they literally have a life of their own. Don’t be an elf on the shelf failure! But making  your elf on a shelf bendable and sticky you can achieve some of the greatest elf on a shelf situations. If you insert bendable wire into the arms and legs of your elf you can easily make them configure into just the angle you want. Also, hot gluing a bit of velcro on to their hands make them easy to clasp things, hang around things or look like their are grabbing onto things. It’s fun for our children and for adults if we’re honest. So up your elf on a shelf game with a bit of DIY!

Image Credit: Get Your Pretty On

Holiday Hack #5

Easy Christmas Morning Cleanup

Holiday Hack - Appliance City - Christmas Morning Cleanup

Christmas morning doesn’t have to be a massive mess of wrapping paper and gift boxes. Instead use this quick trick to make even clean up festive! Wrap a really big box with some of your left over festive wrapping paper. You can then use this box as an impromptu rubbish bin keeping your front room tidy (and festive)!

Image Credit: Chica and Jo

Holiday Hack #6

Fast Window Homemade Window Decor

holiday hack - appliance city - window snowflakes

By now I’m sure you have picked up on my love of the glue gun when it comes to crafts. When it comes to these window snowflakes all you need is your trusty glue gun! Pop Sugar tells us to simply draw your own snowflakes on your window using your hot glue gun. At the end of the season you can peel them off without any residue! If you want to make ones that you can hang on your Tree, use the glass out of an old picture frame. Draw your snowflakes then cover them in glitter.

When they are cooled you can tie a string around a bit of your snow flake and hang them on the tree. Beautiful and very inexpensive.

These are just the beginning of Christmas hacks. You can keep your tree alive longer by adding sugar to water, use clippings from your tree to decorate your side tables or dining table and even use burlap garland to decorate an outside tree with a rustic feel. Christmas is the season for giving, even if it’s a smile created by loved ones looking at your festive decorations!

Happy Christmas from Appliance City

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